The aim of the study trip to New Delhi and Mumbai was to give students and teachers of Graphic Design and Advertising a first impression of the huge variety of cultures on the Indian Subcontinent in a relatively short time. Visits to the country’s leading advertising agencies shed light onto the world of Indian creative industries. A lively exchange was struck up with students and professors in elite schools for budding graphic designers and advertising creatives in Delhi and Mumbai.

22 October to 4 November 2006

The aim of the study trip to New Delhi and Mumbai was to give students and teachers of Graphic Design and Advertising a first impression of the huge variety of cultures on the Indian Subcontinent in a relatively short time. Visits to the country’s leading advertising agencies shed light onto the world of Indian creative industries. A lively exchange was struck up with students and professors in elite schools for budding graphic designers and advertising creatives in Delhi and Mumbai.

Bharat Ganarajya, or Republic of India, offers stable democratic conditions for one billion people in a space the size of Europe. The self-confident Indian culture is amongst the oldest civilisations in the world. From classical antiquity on, India has been a source of fascination and influence for the western world. Today, it still provides cultural and economic stimulus that will probably become stronger in the future.

India is growing fast economically and possesses a potentially enormous amount of well-trained young workers. An increasing number of international companies, including Austrian businesses, is turning to the Indian market. The latest economic data speaks for itself: in 2006, Austrian exports to India grew by 23.3%, while imports grew by 12.8%.

Besides Hindi in the North and Tamil in the South, India has 21 other official languages. Despite, or perhaps just because of the huge variety of local languages, English is the one administrative, teaching and business language that unifies the country, which eased our access to the cultures of this exotic region.

Taking the long-distance coach, we rode from Delhi southwards through Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to the Taj Mahal, to Jaipur, to the sacred lake and the camel market of Pushkar. Travelling in air-conditioned second-class carriages on the night train from Ajmer to Mumbai, we were able to experience the reliability and comfort of Indian Railways, get a taste of the legendary board service’s culinary and logistic qualities and enjoy the mild tropical night air streaming in through the open doors as the train rolled slowly through the countryside.

With its cramped population of 20 million, Mumbai was a world of its own.

The aim of the study trip to New Delhi and Mumbai was to give students and teachers of Graphic Design and Advertising a first impression of the huge variety of cultures on the Indian Subcontinent in a relatively short time. Visits to the country’s leading advertising agencies shed light onto the world of Indian creative industries. A lively exchange was struck up with students and professors in elite schools for budding graphic designers and advertising creatives in Delhi and Mumbai.